1995 F-150 XL - tow pig

[sufferingant]

I recently traded my 1g Neon for Spencer's F-150. This truck needs a little bit of work, but I'm excited to be able to tow and haul

Basics:

1995 (OBD-I )
Standard cab, long bed
Strong running 300 4.9L I6
Mazda M5OD-R2 5 speed
2wd
A/C that actually works (afaik)
Towing goods - Nice hitch, Brake controller, all wired up.

Immediate plans:

Needs a brake line from the master to the rears. Not looking forward to it, but it should be taken care of this week.

Got a brand new universal Bosch O2 sensor from a friend, going to install that for teh MPG's

No cupholders - I'll be fabbing something up to look stock

Remove camper mounts

Replace nasty rear bumper, and probably just touch up the front one

New fuel filter for front tank (purchased)

Oil change, trans and diff fluid change, and possibly plugs and an air filter.


Pics:

I haven't got to wash it yet so excuse the dirtyness.

[Mr. Pink]

not too bad, it looked shittier in spencer's pictures

[TsiDreams]

I had a freind who has 750k on a f-150 with the same motor/trans. All original, never rebuilt.

Should be a good reliable setup for you.

[Comfort>Function]

not too bad, it looked shittier in spencer's pictures

It never really was that shitty.. but mind you I had 3-400 lbs of scrap in the bed too

Plus, I took pictures to show the bad sides when I listed it for sale.

[sufferingant]

well, pulled the camper mount off. it's FS if anyone wants it..i'll provide a CL link later.

found out that there's only one fuel filter, so the front tank will probably need a pump to run correctly. ah well, i'll probably just run it dry then stop using it haha

trying to source a rear bumper, probably will head to freeman's in a bit.

[sufferingant]

Removed the rear brake line. It was so rusted that it started to crumbled as I released it from the plastic holders along the frame. Spencer tried to temp fix it, but there was a two foot gap between the lines when I removed them haha. I got pretty lucky and both line nuts came off easily with a flare wrench.



Not sure if it's because this truck has ABS, but this job is going to be easier than expected. The rear brake line doesn't travel all the way to the master, it ends at a distribution block which is basically right along the frame rail. This means I don't have to make as many crazy bends

I measured both lines to a sum of 10 feet, so it looks like I'll be picking up: a 25 foot coil of brake line from autozone in 3/16" diameter (still have to verify), fittings, and rent a bender and double flare tool.

[Mr. Pink]

woot, it will be able to stop nao.

[sufferingant]

Autozone run today picked up:

25' 3/16" Brake line
Pack of Brake Line Nuts (3/8"x24) for 3/16" line

Rented:
Double flare tool
Tubing bender

With any luck, I'll have brakes tomorrow

[sufferingant]

Update

On Sunday, I tackled the rear brake line. I had to learn how to use the double flare tool (PITA until you've done it a few times), but it was a surprisingly easy job.

The only weird bends I had to make were from the ABS pump to the rears.

Old vs. New



not bad for a noob with a vice, eh?

Got that in, and then I noticed the line at the master was pinched, probably so I didn't lose all of my brake fluid. I cut off the pinched part, re bended the line, and put the new end on and re-flared the line, and it went back in without a hitch.

Bled the rears, but I couldn't get the front bleeders open. The brake line makes it impossible to use a socket, and the box end keeps slipping off. I'll figure something out.

The bad news..when I was under the truck this is what I found.



I don't think the bed is supposed to be supporting my leaf spring . I bought the new leaf spring bracket, and now I just have to somehow remove the frame rivets. My rear gas tank is leaking slightly, and it's right there..so I can't use my grinder. My dad just bought an air hammer, so I'll try my luck with a chisel bit tomorrow.

Any other suggestions for removing those frame rivets would be greatly appreciated The new one just uses throughbolts so it'll go in easily enough.

[sufferingant]

Frame rivets are out

I used my electric cut off wheel to cut a plus sign (+) into the head of the rivet, as far in as i could go without touching the frame. Then, I used my air hammer to chisel each quarter piece off. After all 4 frame rivets were flush, I used the chisel bit again to pry the leaf spring bracket from the frame.

My chisel isn't too strong, so I ended up using a punch and a 2lb hammer to stake the rivets out. The throughbolt for the hanger wasn't going anywhere, so I used the cut-off wheel to remove that too.

Have to get a new throughbolt from autozone/home depot, and then I can put the new spring hanger on

[Mr. Pink]

werd yo

[sufferingant]

Truck is fixed!

My dad helped me bend the leaf down to line it up with the freshly installed spring hanger, and I bolted it up with loctite.

FWIW I replaced the spring hanger bolt with a 1/2" x 4" long. The original is 4.5", but of course home depot only carries 4" and 5". In hindsight I could have used the 5" with more washers, but this way worked out, and the nut threaded all the way.

[sufferingant]

My first load (rope was more aesthetics than anything haha)



There are about 40 tires on rims in that bed. They came out of a barn and everything is rusted to shit, so I've been using a cut off wheel through the rim into the bead, then a sledgehammer to pop the bead.

I've been working on them for a few days now, and they're almost done.

I also picked up Justin's S10 bed, so that's in my bed too haha

[Mr. Pink]

lmao, so i blame you for jinxing me, the rear Passenger side Brake line went out on the pathfinder as i was driving... scary to say the least.

[sufferingant]

mine was the rear driver's side haha, couldn't have been me

is it fixed yet?

[Mr. Pink]

mine was the rear driver's side haha, couldn't have been me

is it fixed yet?

just went out at like 3ish pm today so no. i dropped it off at the only shop i trust here in town. its $90 to fix and he's going to check my Passenger side steering to see if its the Ball joint or Tie rod's that i need even though i bought the tie rod's and adj sleeve already.

[sufferingant]

could be worse lol. if theres more than a few bends, $90 is totally worth it.

[Mr. Pink]

He may be replacing the whole line idk yet.

[sufferingant]

Fixed my leaking gas tank...at least temporarily.

Got under the truck with a combo wrench and my impact. First tank strap throughbolt came off with relative ease. Second side, not so much. I ended up stripping the top side, and even after picking up a set of bolt grippers/extractors, it still would not come off.

Had to hit it with the cut off wheel to get the nut off, which was pretty scary because my tank was pissing out gas not even a foot away. I worked carefully and quickly, and somehow didn't die. I couldn't get to the flange at the end of the nut, so I hit it with my air chisel and it came right off.



I then pulled off the strap, and cleaned it up a bit. I first took as much of the slime off as I could with a towel, then washed it in the laundry tub with a slew of chemicals laying around. After that, I dried it up with a towel and brought out the wire wheel. It was a quick job, but I just wanted to make the surface cleaner. I painted the outside of the strap just for fun.

Before





After



The last part ended up looking so terrible I just didn't take any pics. I used 100% silicone caulk on the underside of the strap, and spread it around with a putty knife. I laid it on pretty thick, but made the coverage even. I then carefully put the strap back into position, and bolted it up with new hardware. I made sure it was pretty snug, then lied underneath the truck for a while to see if any more gas came out, which I noticed none.

I realize it's probably a temp fix, and I hate not doing things right, but for now it should get me around a little more efficiently. If/when I get some real money coming in, I'll splurge for a new tank, fender repair panels, etc.

[projekt-H]

F150 FTW!